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LETTER: LETTER: Building a More Equal Society

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 December 2005, 12:00 CST

THE debate about selection has narrowed down too much recently into a discussion of integrated schools.

It seems clear from previous letters that some of these schools have an element of selection to ensure they have a balanced intake. That is a very desirable feature of any school and it is difficult to see why some of your letter-writers are opposed to it. We have suffered far too long from the social engineering of selection which has created two tiers of schools, one largely for better-off pupils and one for the rest.

It is important to look at inequality generally. Building a more equal society, free from poverty and sectarianism, is one of NICVA's core aims.

An assault on educational inequality is a key part of our call for a better anti-poverty strategy by Government. The inequality created by our divided education system is the main factor creating and sustaining the inequality in society generally, eg, the huge difference in health between rich and poor areas and the big and growing gap between the well- paid and those who survive on the minimum wage.

There is a wealth of evidence that children who fail the 11-plus are far more likely to perform badly at the age of 16, though there are always people who buck the trend. People who fail to get good qualifications at the age of 16 are more likely to leave for unskilled low-paid jobs or unemployment than their peers who get good GCSEs and A levels.

Selection would be harsh enough if it could even be made fair and reliable but its damage is greatly increased by the fact that it is largely social selection - the well-off are far more likely to go to grammar schools and people from lower incomes are far more likely to go to secondary schools.

In the 2004 school year, 29 per cent of secondary pupils were entitled to free school meals but only seven per cent of grammar pupils fell into this group. In Catholic schools, the overall level of disadvantage is higher, with 36 per cent of secondary and 11 per cent of grammar schools entitled to free meals.

In other (mainly Protestant) schools, the degree of inequality is much more severe: 22 per cent of secondary pupils are entitled to free meals compared with only three per cent of grammar pupils.

We should never divide children at the age of 11 just to suit an unjust schooling system which maintains an unequal society. On the contrary, the system should meet the needs of our young people and give all of them the benefits of the best possible education right though their school careers and on into further and higher education.

Seamus McAleavey,

Chief Executive, Northern Ireland

Council for Voluntary Action

Source: Belfast News Letter, The

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